Basketball gets a Desi makeover as the NBA plans to air 100 games in Hindi

The move from the premium American basketball league has come on the back of a trial last season, when 14 games were aired with Hindi commentary on Ten 1Gaurav Laghate | ET Bureau | October 16, 2017, 08:15 IST

The move from the premium American basketball league has come on the back of a trial last season, when 14 games were aired with Hindi commentary on Ten 1. As per data provided by NBA India, the games with Hindi commentary were viewed on TV by 8.9 million people in India.

“India is one of the top 2 priority markets for us,” said NBA India managing director Yannick Colaco. “We want to popularise the game of basketball and NBA in India. That means we should make it more accessible for the audiences. With this move, we will be able to engage with not just existing, but also potential fans.”

Talking about statistics from last season’s trial run, Colaco said in the Hindi-speaking markets (HSM), the viewership of the telecast with Hindi commentary was double of that with English commentary.

As part of the plan, Sony Ten 3 and Sony Ten 3 HD will air two NBA games every weekend, including the regular season and playoffs, once the season starts on October 21, with Hindi commentary.

Sony Six and Sony Six HD will continue to broadcast two regular season games every day.

A panel of expert commentators has been engaged to deliver analysis in Hindi for each game, said Rajesh Kaul, president of sports and distribution business at SPN.

The commentators have undergone training to fine tune their abilities in presenting NBA games, which included personalised training by long-time Indiana Pacers’ play-by-play announcer Chris Denari.

The league has also associated with popular NBA and basketball influencers, such as Bollywood actor and VJ Rannvijay Singh and stand-up comedian Gursimran Khamba, to be guest commentators on a regular basis.Increasingly, foreign leagues are making efforts to get a piece of India’s growing broadcast pie.

Last year, Spanish football league La Liga, which houses popular clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, changed the kick-off times of the matches to reach out to more viewers in the Asian markets like India and China.

Javier Tebas, president of La Liga had revealed the league’s plans for investments in the country towards opening offices, getting ambassadors to play exhibition matches and growing the game at grassroots level to popularise the league in the country.

Even as cricket remains the most-followed game and Indian Premier League the most watched tournament, other international sports like football, basketball, and wrestling are also gaining popularity. NBA and WWE already have offices in India.